Reevaluating the RUC Committee: Addressing Specialty Representation Gaps and the Primary Care Shortage

Policy & Medicine November 13, 2024
Thomas Sullivan

With the new administration and congress coming, one simple reform to increase the number of primary care physicians and reduce healthcare costs is updating the Relative Value Units (RVU) system. The American Medical Association’s Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), created under the statutory authority of the Social Security Act, plays a significant role in setting Medicare reimbursement rates. Although the RUC is technically an advisory body to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), it holds substantial influence over Medicare’s RVU system through its recommendations on physician work, practice expenses, and professional liability costs for medical procedures. CMS relies on the RUC’s guidance to set Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedule, which determines payment rates for medical services.

However, recent...

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